Shanghai Сooperation Organisation heads of state urge early ratification of SCO Charter

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation heads of state have instructed national SCO coordinators, without waiting for internal procedures to put the SCO Charter into effect to be launched, to start preparing treaty-based and regulatory documents on the functioning of the organisation's bodies and their activities. This is said in a declaration signed by the SCO heads of state following their summit in St Petersburg.

The declaration says that early ratification of the Charter and the agreement on a SCO regional anti-terrorist structure will quickly put into operation all mechanisms for the organisation to function effectively.

The heads of state said that the SCO will take effective steps to implement the Shanghai convention on the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism and will adopt documents on multilateral cooperation in thwarting illicit drugs and arms trafficking and other kinds of transboundary criminal activities, as well as illegal migration.

As is noted in the declaration, of much importance is creation of a mechanism for informing each other and looking for points of contact on foreign political issues of mutual interest, including within international organisations and forums, the UN among them.

The six heads of state agreed to expand areas of cooperation between SCO member-countries.

"A particularly important task in SCO activity" is, consider the heads of state, development of an economic partnership. To do so a negotiation process will be set into motion to create favourable conditions for trade and investments, and to draw up a long-term programme of multilateral trade and economic cooperation under the September 14, 2001 memorandum of SCO governments.

It is necessary shortly to name priority projects for practical cooperation in such areas as construction of transport communications and energy and water economy facilities, energy resources mining and transportation, as well as in other fields of mutual interest, it is noted in the declaration.